Nauspayr
=Overview= Sylphic is a language its creator initially developed when he was about eleven, but since starting a degree in linguistics, decided he ought to go back to it and start formalising it a little. Among its (unintentional) sources are Spanish, English, Gaelic, Mandarin, Japanese, Polish and some Nordic elements. Its main notable aspects are its dependence upon interpersonal relationships, a four "gender" system and its lilting spoken tone. It is intended to be both spoken and written, both for artistic and more prosaic purposes. The language is still undergoing development as its creator tries to make it 'more realistic' and usable. Suggestions for vocabulary or 'how to get the currently embryonic case system to work properly (!)' are much obliged. A lingual cultural background is also in development. Note From the Creator I apologise that, at the moment, some elements are made unclear by formatting. As soon as I get the hang of formatting, (hopefully create some tables) this should be much clearer. Also, while the language is still in development could you please not make major changes to the language system itself, though suggestions are much welcomed. Thank you. =Alphabet= Sylphic uses a Roman alphabet, modified with various diacritics, along with a small group of other letters. Vowels come in three 'flavours' (for want of a better word): plain, first derivative coloured or second derivative coloured, or simply: undotted, single dotted, double dotted. Consonants may appear plain or coloured (some being just single dotted, others single and double). Finally there are held vowels and held nasal consonants. These are sounds of a lower pitch, and held for roughly twice the length of other vowels and consonants. The diacritics ´ `^ and ˇ mark "gender" and do not alter pronunciation. The pronunciation guide below is written (for clarity) in English, rather than IPA, and should be approached with a Northern British accent. However, these pronunciations are for guide purposes only! In fact, the sound is more rounded, having a "English singing pronunciation' or more Norwegian sound. Imagine you have a boiled sweet in your mouth as you say these. Furthermore, pronunciation also is altered by context, vowels ending syllables tend to be cut short and vowels before nasals tend to themselves be partly nasalised. Plain Vowels a /ar/ as car e /e/ as bet ı /i/ as bit o /o/ as cot u /u/ as hut First Derivative Coloured Vowels ȧ /ao/ ė the relaxed final /a/ of banana i /ee/ as tree ȯ /ow/ as row Second Derivative Coloured Vowels ä /ay/ as bay ë /ur/ as cur ï /ich/ as German ich ö /or/ as sore ü /oo/ as loot Plain Consonants b /b/ as but c /c/ as cat d /d/ as duck f /f/ as of g /g/ as goat h /h/ as hat j rolled /j/ as Spanish jota k /k/ as kit l /l/ as light, not as pull m /m/ as map n /n/ as new p /p/ as pot q /c/ as cut r /r/ as rat s /s/ as sail t /t/ as tent v /v/ as van w /w/ as water x /x/ as Xanadu y /y/ as yet z /z/ as zoo Coloured Consonants ḃ /bh/ ċ /xsh/ ḋ /dh/ ç rolled /c/ ḟ /f/ as flower ġ a French /j/ as je suis ḣ unpronounced; denotes a complete expulsion of air from the lungs ḧ rolled /h/ ĺ /l/ as pull, not as light ṗ /ph/ as philanthropy ṙ rolled /rr/ as Spanish perro ṡ /sh/ as shut ṫ /th/ as bath, not as there ẗ /st/ as stop ų /qu/ as queen ẇ /wh/ as what ẅ /ewh/ ẋ /ch/ as church ẍ /sx/: a run on of six, or s-schwa-x ẏ /dj/ or /j/ as jam ÿ /I/ as I ż /sjz/ Held Vowels and Held Consonants Remember to drop pitch when moving to these sounds: there should be a certain sonority to them ā long, sighed /a/ ē long, sighed /e/ ī long, sighed /i/ ō long, sighed /o/ ū long, sighed /u/ ṁ long, hummed /m/ ṅ long, hummed /n/ ŋ long, hummed /ng/ as rigging Other Letters ð /th/ as there, not as bath æ /a/ as cat ll /ll/ as pull, not as light rolled /j/ as Spanish jota /y/ as yellow /dl/ as puddle œ /oi/ as oil =Basic Grammar= Basics Noun Types ("Genders") Many societies see the world divided up into four elements. The four types of noun have nothing to do with this, but it may help to think along these lines. In fact there is no set reason why one is one thing and one another, but tends to be divided by age, gender, level of complexity of idea, abstract versus prosaic, etc. The definite and indefinite article mark gender, along with the written diacritic upon the FIRST UNACCENTED VOWEL OF THE WORD. These diacritics are also found on the article. As in Chinese, where tone differentiates between words such as "mother" and "question participle", a single Sylphic word may refer to four different nouns, four different verbs, four adjectives and four adverbs (although they tend to be related). This is clearly defined in writing, where the diacritics and article mark word type. (Gender extends to all word classes). However, in speech, where no article is present, confusion may arise. However, much of the time words across type are roughly synonymous (i.e. in speech there is no big need to differentiate "end" and "finish"). If there is a large difference in meaning across type, then definition is created through context. "The cat sat on the mat" is hardly going to be "the cunning rested on the carpet tile" Indefinite Article - Definite Article Qué - Yá Quèd - Dà Quêl - Lâ Jĕ - Jă Singular, Dual, Trial, Paucal, Plural Singular refers to one object, Dual to two, Trial to three. Paucal refers to 'many' (roughly between four and seven) and Plural refers to 'lots' (at least seven). This is due to Sylphic's base three counting system, only recently adapted to allow decimal numbers. To mark quantity, the following suffixes are applied to the noun. No agreement is needed with adjectives, but is required of verbs. All nouns are count nouns, that is, the word for water refers in fact to a single 'hypothetical' quantity of water. All mass nouns, when used as such, are given the plural suffix. For words ending in vowel sounds: singular; no suffix, dual; s, trial; t, paucal; j, plural; r. For words ending in consonant sounds: singular; no suffix, dual; ÿs, trial; ÿt, paucal; ÿj, plural; ÿr. Persons These tend not to be attached to verbs as in 'I am', as the verb conjugation itself tells enough about tense and person (as in Spanish). However, these words are used rather for formality's sake, to clarify ambiguous statements, as possessives or as the subjects of verb statements. They are altered by case. I Ä You singular to someone close to the first person Beäḣ You singular to someone who the first person is respectful / distant to Bÿ He Teo She Teä It Tÿ One / Impersonal You Ÿ We including the second person Ṫi We not including the second person Ṫÿ You plural to others close to the first person Leäḣ You plural to others who the first person is respectful / distant to Lÿ They masculine Seo They feminine Seä They genderless objects Sÿ Social Honorifics When discussing other human beings, or objects given human qualities, Sylphic uses an extended system of honorifics, demonstrating the relationship between the addresser and addressee or person discussed. These are attached (by hyphen) to the end of the name of the addressee or subject. If a name is not present, then this is tagged to the chief noun describing the subject or addressee, such as job titles, descriptions, nouns marking social status, etc. If there are none of these present, the honorific is tagged to the final word of the utterance, or sentence. An similar feature in English is "I'll do that right away, sir". Numbers As a point of interest, the Sylphic number system (extended to base ten) is as follows: Zero Pù One Yÿ Two Tzá Three Twá Four Kÿ Five Qúi Six Sÿs Seven Süt Eight Óll Nine Nüj Ten Yȧ Twenty Tȧ Thirty Twȧ Forty Kȧ Fifty Qúȧ Sixty Syȧ Seventy Zȧ Eighty Ói Ninety Nȧ Hundred Útä Thousand Ítia Using Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and the Basics of Verbs Verbs Case Constructing Sentences and Utterances Peculiarities Speaking Sylphic Tone and Pronunciation Speaking Sylphic fluently involves the adoption of the rising and falling tone of the language. Rules governing pitch are very rough, but as a set of guidelines, the following tends to cover most aspects. Single syllable: Down (and short). Double syllable (ending in vowel sound): Down - up. Double syllable (ending in consonant sound or æ): Up - Down or Down - up. Double syllable (ending in climax vowel / consonant): Up - Down. Triple syllable: single syllable - double syllable or up - double syllable. Quadruple syllable: down - up - down - up. Quintuple syllable: up - down - up - down - up. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Someone recently remarked that it sounded like a cross between Shetland, Spanish and Liverpudlian. Honorifics Take care to use the correct honorifics for each social situation, it can be considered impolite to misaddress someone. Verbs When speaking, it is permissible to only use the simpler verb tenses (rather than the more specific forms used in writing). This can make speaking the language much easier. In an informal situation, using 100% correct grammar suggests an impolite superiority complex, or being excessively sarcastic (correct grammar in speech can equate to saying "yeah, right"). Furthermore, don't panic over gender, as it will probably be clear which sense of a word you mean. =Dictionary= The Dictionary The dictionary is still under massive reconstruction, each word that had been invented being tested and formalised. These are the words that have so far made it through. Please, please, please, don't hesitate to suggest more vocabulary; as long as it follows the rules (and is not too stupid) it should be accepted. The more people who get involved the better. The current dictionary is available as a .pdf (as it is far too complicated a job to reformat it here). You can view it here: Dictionary v1.1.pdf (When the first page has loaded, wait a few seconds, then click the download for free button) The dictionary will be updated over time Growth of Vocabulary As people who speak one language go out and meet other people who speak a different language, then linguistic items are exchanged. If speakers of another conlanguage want to exchange lexis on a low level, then I am more than happy for this to take place. =Example text= ... Category:Languages